Cops are trying to figure out why some people are acting crazy and violent this spring, more so than they can remember.

Community organizers are wondering why they are seeing shirtless teenagers walking around D.C. streets after midnight, ranting and raving to no one.

The answer, they fear, is PCP.

Angel Dust has come back to the streets of D.C. in a more potent form this spring; from all indications, it is triggering a surge in violent crime in general and weird acts in particular.

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On the street, PCP goes by a number of names: Angel Dust, Ozone, Wack, Rocket Fuel or Dippers, because drug users often take a marijuana joint or a cigarette and dip it into PCP powder. The actual drug is phencyclidine. It is a powerful hallucinogen known for making some people go bonkers, like jumping from windows, or stripping naked and running into traffic, or shooting someone in the head and forgetting the incident entirely.

I first heard about the latest potent form of PCP in D.C. from cops, who often are the first to see PCP’s crazy crimes. They tell me stronger marijuana on the street dipped in PCP is sending people right over the cliff. I checked with Ronald “Moe” Moten of Peaceoholics, a group that mediates teen gang wars.

“There’s more PCP than I’ve seen in a long time,” Moe says. “It’s being used a lot by young people.”

More PCP is not showing up in Superior Court’s pretrial services division, which screens people arrested in D.C. for drugs. In the late 1980s, the number reached 42 percent; now it’s hovering around 10 percent. “It’s going up a little bit,” says Susan Shaffer, director of pretrial services. “It could be there’s a big increase, but we’re not seeing it in lockup tests.”

By other measures, the nation’s capital has always been the prince of PCP.

The federal Drug Abuse Warning Network reported in 2004 that D.C. led all major cities in people testing positive for PCP in emergency room visits. Philadelphia was a close second, followed by Los Angeles, Chicago and Newark, N.J. D.C. police have been reporting increases in the number of people arrested with PCP in their blood every year; in some years, the increase is fourfold.

The best hedge against PCP is the firm hand of tough law enforcement. A federal task force busted the notorious “M Street Crew” in 2004 and charged 20 members with pushing PCP and killing competitors. The kingpin, Larry Gooch, was just convicted of pulling the trigger in three murders.

“We have other investigations in the pipeline,” U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Channing Phillips said.

Still, there’s enough PCP in the pipeline to wreak havoc all summer long.